FACT: USCIS MONITORS social networks..

[Severina 7]

This is an article my fiancé sent me this morning.

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/10/13/5285720-feds-may-be-checking-out-your-facebook-profile

It simply left me speechless

[SisJ 13]

Well if they're watching, Expedite my dang I-130..pls..lol

:rofl: I KNOW RIGHT!

[lucky Jimmy 7]

This is an article my fiancé sent me this morning.

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/10/13/5285720-feds-may-be-checking-out-your-facebook-profile

It simply left me speechless

very interesting. I will consider to delete my account and maybe open one with a false name or something. It really stinks that we cant enjoy being social with big brother watching us. Creepy, very creepy.

[nane1104 146]

This is an article my fiancé sent me this morning.

http://technolog.msn...acebook-profile

It simply left me speechless

Yepp, that's pretty crazy. On the other hand..I have nothing on my fb page I would feel I had to hide. As a matter of fact, if I still had an application pening right now and that would lead to a faster approval, I'd invite USCIS to check my profile and my pictures to verify how real my marriage is:)

[Arlington 5]

Probably not a surprise to anyone, but this from the COMPUTERWORLD article linked below:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9191058/DHS_scoured_social_media_sites_during_Obama_inauguration_for_items_of_interest_

The DHS's monitoring of social networking and other sites for information it considers useful is similar to the current actions of several other federal agencies.

The U.S. Customs and Immigration Services, which are part of the DHS, are using social media data for citizenship verification purposes. The FOIA documents obtained from the DHS by the EFF this week show that the SNMC is also being used to "observe the daily life of beneficiaries and petitioners who are suspected of fraudulent activities" when applying for U.S. citizenship.

Social networking sites give immigration agents an opportunity to identify fraud by monitoring online chatter to see if someone applying for citizenship is, for example, in a "valid relationship" with a U.S. citizen or is attempting to deceive the agency.

[MaRob 0]

Employers have been doing this now too..

I actually think that is great for me! Maybe it will go faster that way when they can see your legit.

People tend to show their real selves to their "friends" I just don't understand how people can post some crazy things on different websites and think that it somehow doesn't affect their reality.

[Arlington 5]

I found another article about this, including direct quotes from the USCIS document:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/14/government-facebook_n_762581.html

"Narcissistic tendencies in many people fuels a need to have a large group of 'friends' link to their pages and many of these people accept cyber-friends that they don't even know," the USCIS explains. "This provides an excellent vantage point for FDNS to observe the daily life of beneficiaries and petitioners who are suspected of fraudulent activities."

The memo also suggests that agents should treat online profiles as a "cyber 'site-visit'" and look to them to spot fake relationships and other types of fraud.

"Generally, people on these sites speak honestly in their network because all of their friends and family are interacting with them via lM's (Instant Messages), Blogs (Weblog journals), etc.," advises the USCIS memo. "This social networking gives FDNS an opportunity to reveal fraud by browsing these sites to see if petitioners and beneficiaries are in a valid relationship or are attempting to deceive CIS about their relationship. Once a user posts online, they create a public record and timeline of their activities. In essence, using MySpace and other like sites is akin to doing an unannounced cyber "site-visit" on a petitioners and beneficiaries."

[GC2010 7]

http://www.computerw...ms_of_interest_ read dis link i dont thing they monitor immigration social network but i knw they monitior facebook an myspace.. check that link out

[Amyyduck 20]

That seems like a waste of time to me. Any responsible adult knows better than to make their facebook profile open to the public. And if you're stupid enough to post incriminating evidence on VJ, then you deserve to get found out and denied for it.

People put way too much stuff out there these days for people to see. Whatever happened to privacy??

[Casprd 167]

The officers at the Consulate in Montreal not only read VJ, but they have also matched member names to visa applications. There are a number of Canadians who have had this confirmed at their interviews. I can find you the link if you're interested.

Personnel from a specific consulate reading info on VJ is a heck of a lot different than USCIS "monitoring" social networks.

[Krikit 1,164]

Merging two threads on same topic.

[Darren&Laura 3]

A friend at MSNBC wrote this yesterday:

Link to MSNBC article

Edited October 14, 2010 by Darren&Laura

[lucky Jimmy 7]

well folks, as a result of this discussion I have deleted my facebook account. I value my privacy from big brother. Facebook says it will delete the account in 14 days. If USCIS wants to know something then they should just ask and not be sneaky about it. AS thomas Jefferson once said "a government big enough to give you what you want is big enough to take it away"

[Amyyduck 20]

well folks, as a result of this discussion I have deleted my facebook account. I value my privacy from big brother. Facebook says it will delete the account in 14 days. If USCIS wants to know something then they should just ask and not be sneaky about it. AS thomas Jefferson once said "a government big enough to give you what you want is big enough to take it away"

Seriously?? Did you even read the article? If you had, you'd have noticed that adjudicators were instructed to friend petitioners in order to basically stalk them. Simple solution: Set you privacy settings so that only your friends can see you stuff, and don't accept a friend request from anyone you don't know.

[lucky Jimmy 7]

Seriously?? Did you even read the article? If you had, you'd have noticed that adjudicators were instructed to friend petitioners in order to basically stalk them. Simple solution: Set you privacy settings so that only your friends can see you stuff, and don't accept a friend request from anyone you don't know.

I read it. I dont trust the privact settings. This is big brother. He can get around privacy settings and passwords. We have given him ultimate authority in the name of national security. I will be surprised if Big brother can't restore what I have deleted, if he really wants to.